Care instead of love

For the past I-don’t-know-how-long, I’ve kind of unconsciously replaced love with care. At first, I didn’t really think in different terms – I just modified my definition of love. Somewhere long the line, though, I actually switching away from love, the word, to care.

The unconscious bit probably wasn’t planned. Such is the nature of unconsciousness, right? The switch later on, though, I did I purpose.

What comes to mind when you think of love? What do you picture? In contrast, what comes to mind when you think of care? What pictures pop up?

For me, when I think of love, I think of hearts or flowers or romance or how I feel about Mexican food. But when I think of care, I think of mothers caring for children or doctors caring for patients or philanthropists caring for starving people in Africa.

In other words, care to me means something that matters. Love feels commercialized in comparison.

That’s why I’ve made the switch. I still say love. But when I want a word or a concept that means something more, I jump to care. To me, care feels like what love should have been, love stripped of its fleetingness and cheesiness.